Don't have an auto directory

[infinisil]

Idea: Instead of having pkgs/auto be the auto-called directory, have it be pkgs directly. All the bits that can't be auto-called should be put into new top-level directories. This idea was brought to attention by @davidak on Matrix

[Moredread]

To expand on this, for packages that only have the default.nix file, why not skip putting it in it's own, otherwise empty directory. I.e. pkgs/applications/editors/ed/default.nix would become pkgs/ed.nix

[davidak]

To expand on this, for packages that only have the default.nix file, why not skip putting it in it's own, otherwise empty directory. I.e. pkgs/applications/editors/ed/default.nix would become pkgs/ed.nix

for consistency, it would be good if every package has a directory. that also makes it easy to add more files to the package

and if i understand the technical proposal correct, the directories are what is "auto-called", so they are needed

[infinisil]

It could be done technically (just needs a slight adjustment to callPackage, could even be limited to the auto-calling only), but I agree that always having a directory is better for consistency. (Let's keep this discussion to a separate issue though, it's not the same as whether auto is needed).

[roberth]

I think a good long term ambition is to move to a <component>/<file-type>.nix

• components/postgresql/package.nix
• components/postgresql/nixos-module.nix

See https://github.com/nixpkgs-architecture/issues/issues/5#issuecomment-1228656788

If that's too radical for now, we can reduce that to

• packages/<name>/called-package.nix for auto-called ones and
• packages/<name>/package.nix for non-auto-called ones, such as pkgs: pkgs.callPackage ./auto-package { defaultArg1 = .....; }

Specifically this avoids unnecessary abbreviations and nesting.

[roberth]

Even if we don't decide to move NixOS modules into components/postgresql/nixos-module.nix style locations, preparing the structure for RFC 78 would be fantastic, considering how disruptive mass-moves are.

• components/p/o/postgresql/package.nix
• components/p/o/postgresql/config-module.nix (RFC 78)